Login actions are required to use various peripheral devices (e.g., devices such as a printer, a copy machine, a facsimile) having an authentication function connected to a network. In general, a user inputs a username and password through a login screen in this kind of login action. In other words, in a login system, a user can log into a peripheral device by typing the user's username, password and the like with ten keys and a keyboard.
The aforementioned conventional art requires a user to type in a username, password and the like with ten keys and/or a keyboard and the like anytime the user logs in. Although this login action is indispensable in terms of security, the more frequently a user uses a peripheral device, the more the user is bothered by the login action.
As an approach to simplify a login action, there is a method to facilitate entering username by displaying all usernames of the users who are allowed to log in on a login screen for user's selection. However, a login screen on a peripheral device is limited in space, and all users do not always use the device frequently, and all users do not always want their username to be displayed. This leads a problem in that displaying of unnecessary usernames disturbs a login action by a user who frequently uses the device.
To solve this problem, a system has been proposed to simplify a “login name entering” action by holding a login history of a user who has logged into a device, displaying a username of each user whose login history is hold on a login screen, and making a user select the user's username from the displayed usernames. In this kind of system, however, even a user whose login history does not need to be left (e.g. a user who rarely uses a device), leaves a login history. Therefore, even with the simplified “login name entering” action, a “login name searching” action still bothers a user.